


Betty

by Tarlan



Series: Betty [1]
Category: Boa vs. Python (2004)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-01
Updated: 2006-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-20 17:37:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/215322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Betty is on the loose and Emmett wants to take her back under the protection of the Longreen Snake Reserve before someone spirits her away for experimentation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Betty

Emmett looked into the darkness of the Philadelphia water system, his nose crinkling at the dank smell drifting up. Beside him, Monica was rechecking her equipment before they plunged into the darkness in search of Betty. The scarlet boa had managed to destroy the bioengineered python that Broddick had brought into the country specifically to hunt but she had disappeared soon after. Even now, Emmett could not believe that she had not only survived the massive voltage sent through her when he pressed the remote but that it had little or no effect upon her. Yet, he had witnessed the electric current flowing through both giant snakes so he knew the device had worked.

Part of him was thankful that it had not killed her outright but another part of him now feared for her. Although no where near as voracious as the python, she was still deadly, needing to eat to survive, and the only prey on the menu was human. So far, no one had reported any missing persons but Emmett was no fool. He knew Philadelphia had a vulnerable itinerant population of bums and outcasts who lived on the streets and took refuge in the water outlets and tunnels by night.

Would anyone even notice one or two going missing a week?

That was all Betty needed. One adult human as a meal would keep her sated for a week so Emmett was almost glad that she had already eaten, even if that meal consisted of only half a human - Broddick. The python had eaten the other half of the man, tearing him apart as both snakes fought over the 'morsel'. Emmett tightened his lips in remembrance. Broddick had deserved his gruesome end though Emmett would forever feel guilty at the part he played in Broddick's death. It did not matter that Broddick had tried to kill him and Monica, or that he had killed several soldiers, setting them on fire. Taking a life was against everything Emmett believed in. His sole purpose in bioengineering Betty was to harvest her blood for his research into creating anti-venom capable of treating any kind of snake bite.

Knowing his actions had left Broddick vulnerable to attack made Emmett feel like a killer, though no one blamed him; neither the army nor the FBI.

Emmett thought of FBI Special Agent Sharpe. He had known the man for less than a day but the manner of his death still shook Emmett to the core for it could just as easily have been him who died. Even though Sharpe was the only one wearing a Kevlar vest, Emmett had charged ahead as they tried to follow Betty's trail, and if Monica had not incorrectly read the direction on her instruments then he might have been the first one around that corner instead of Sharpe, running straight into a hunter's bullet.

"You ready?"

Emmett nodded to Monica and took the first step onto the ladder that would take him down into the underground labyrinth of drainage pipes running parallel to Philadelphia's underground rail system. He took each rung carefully, feeling the slippery slime increase beneath his feet as he went deeper, threatening to send him falling to the bottom of the shaft. Emmett breathed a sigh of relief as his feet touched the bottom, and he looked up, the flashlight on his helmet illuminating the shaft and Monica's form as she descended slowly. He waited until she was standing next to him and then he pulled out the map, wanting to confirm their heading before they began walking along the dark tunnels.

One of the fundamental differences between these two constrictors was that pythons laid eggs and boas bore live young. However, Betty was no ordinary boa. She was the only species of boa that laid eggs but Emmett knew this difference was partly because of the small amount of python genetic material used in her creation. Certainly, this could also explain the python's amorous interest in Betty during their first encounter, though she fought off the male at the time. In hindsight, Emmett should have realized she was ready to lay eggs but he had honestly believed she as infertile for all attempts to mate her seemed to have failed in the past. Perhaps Monica was right. Perhaps the fact that she had been gravid was a sign that he had done something right when he artificially inseminated her all those months ago.

He knew he was playing a hunch by returning to the area where Betty had laid her eggs for the python had devoured them all, leaving her nothing to guard but there was always a chance that she had laid only a first batch. However, he could see no sign of her there.

They walked for miles beneath the city, slowly expanding the search outwards in concentric circles until Monica stopped abruptly, a harsh indrawn breath warning him she had spotted something. He knelt down beside her, fingering the shed skin that could only have come from a snake as large as Betty, and he grinned. It was a good sign that she was still in the area.

Emmett took out the tranquilizer gun and ensured it was correctly loaded before moving onwards, following his gut instincts. The tunnel opened out into a large room that sustained a temperature his body recognized from the time he spent in Betty's cage within the Longreen Snake Reserve. Monica took an excited step forward as they spotted a nest made of paper and other debris. Upon it lay several milky globes measuring about at least six inches across; Eggs. Emmett reached out and grabbed at Monica's arm, forcing her to stop before she could pick up one of the shiny white eggs. She looked back at him with a frown marring her pretty features. He shook his head quickly, drawing her back to his side, knowing it would be foolish to walk into her nesting ground without first checking that she was no where close by, guarding her eggs. Emmett knew that this was how Broddick's girlfriend met her death, through carelessness.

The tiniest movement in the shadows ahead brought a flicker of a smile to Emmett's lips and, slowly, his eyes adjusted until he could make out the bulk of Betty's shape, coiled and yet ready to strike. He knew she had a keen sense of smell, as was common with boas, and silently hoped she had not forgotten his scent during her few days of freedom. Taking his life in his hands, he stepped into the open, standing still as Betty slithered across the floor to circle him, slowly closing in until she was coiled loosely around his feet. He knew this was the most dangerous moment for it would take but a second for her to constrict around him and once within her coils, he would be dead in minutes, with the breath quickly forced out of him, then squeezed ever tighter until he could no longer draw in air to his lungs.

She reared up until her head was level with his, seeing eye to eye. Her mouth opened, revealing the sharp inwardly hooked teeth that she used to keep a grip on her prey as she devoured it whole but she made no attempt to unhinge her jaw.

"Hey, Betty. Hey girl," he crooned softly in the same greeting he had used on her since her birthing, knowing she would feel the vibration of his words and, hopefully, recognize the pattern, reaffirming her memory of him. He sighed in relief as she slowly slithered away, uncoiling from around him and returning to her hideaway.

The hardest part was yet to come. He would have to tranquilize her in order to remove her from this place, relying on the goodwill of the FBI and army to take her back to Longreen rather than hand her over to the CIA but that was a risk he had to take. At least by locating her himself, he made it that much harder for the covert researchers to simply spirit her away. Slowly, he raised the tranquilizer gun and shot once, twice, three times, with each shot finding its mark and sending the powerful sleeping drug deep into her body. She reared up angrily but the drug overcame her quickly, sending her into a deep sleep.

Emmett pulled out his radio. "She's ready for transportation back to the reserve, over."

"Reading you loud and clear, doctor. My men are on their way down. ETA ten minutes."

Emmett sighed and walked forward, kneeling down beside the sleeping snake and petting her soft scales, only looking away when Monica knelt down beside him. Within half an hour, Betty was secured for transportation to the surface, leaving Emmett with one last job of collecting the eggs. Very carefully, he placed them in the special container, ensuring that each one was sufficiently wrapped to prevent breakage on the journey ahead. The journey back to the surface took far longer than he had anticipated and Emmett checked his wristwatch nervously, only breathing another sigh of relief when they had Betty placed inside the fortified truck. He stepped inside the cage to supervise the placement of the egg container and to check on Betty, turning abruptly when he heard Monica's sharp cry.

In shock, he raced back towards the thick metal door, jumping over the coils of Betty as she lay oblivious to anything, but it slammed shut, pitching him into darkness within the cage until an eerie green light slowly illuminated the interior. Emmett beat upon the metal door, yelling loudly until confusion gave way to realization. This was no error. The only way out was through the thick steel door and that could only be opened from the outside. They had locked him in here with Betty deliberately, knowing she would awaken within the next couple of hours and anticipating her hunger.

He felt the throb of the engine starting up, felt the movement as the truck began to roll forward, slowly gaining speed. He sank down between Betty and the metal wall, drawing his knees to his chest, with his mind still numbed with shock from knowing they had left him in here to be her next live meal.

With no way out of the cage, his only hope lay with Monica.

*-*

The sudden jarring caused Emmett's head to smack against the metal wall, and he opened his eyes in shocked realization at having fallen asleep. The thick girth of Betty's body still pressed him against the wall and he held his breath as he came face to face with her. Her tongue flicked out to scent him, tickling against his cheek and he stayed perfectly still, expecting the worst. Instead, she lowered her head until it rested in his lap momentarily before she slithered onwards, curling around the interior of the truck until she reached the open container and her eggs. As her body brushed passed him, he reached out, letting his hand glide along her scales. His eyes widened as he felt the lump in her digestive track, knowing it was larger than half a human.

Emmett let out a sob of thanks even as he regretted the death of another human being but he could not deny the relief he felt at this moment, as this meal would keep her sated for days. His mind went blank as he tried to recall when and where she had found this meal. The army and FBI had recovered the bodies of the two soldiers, Broddick's girlfriend and Agent Sharpe. They had found one of the hunters in the reservoir after he was washed away when the flooded the run-off section. Emmett knew that two other hunters had fallen prey to the voracious python. Had there been another in Broddick's party who had not survived their snake hunt, or had she snatched up one of the kids at the impromptu party?

The truck juddered to a halt before reversing, leaving no doubt in Emmett's mind that they had reached their destination. He heard the grating as the door lock was released, throwing up his hand in protection and squinting as sunlight flooded into the truck when the doors swung open. Betty reared up angrily, diving towards the exit in full attack mode before recoiling. She would not leave her eggs except under duress. Three shots sounded, followed by dull thuds as they pierced her thick skin. She swayed drowsily, head lowering as she succumbed to the tranquilizer once more.

"Okay, let's get her into the facility."

Emmett did not recognize the voice; he shrank back as two men entered.

"Well, I'll be... Figured you'd be snake meat by now, doctor." The man turned back to the entrance. "Get him out of here."

"Who the hell are you?" Emmett snarled, standing upright but he drew back against the metal wall when the man raised the tranquilizer gun and aimed it at him.

"No one you need to know, Dr. Emmett."

Two more men entered, grabbing his arms and dragging him over the top of Betty's coiled form but Emmett did not resist though he knew he was living on borrowed time. They had wanted him dead and what better way of disposing of him than having him killed and eaten by his own bioengineered giant snake. He wondered if they would use more conventional methods of disposing of him now that plan had failed. A chilling thought caught at him.

"Where's Monica?"

"I'm afraid Dr. Barnes had a diving accident just a few short hours ago."

"No," he breathed softly, recalling the pretty woman who had saved his life by sharing the oxygen in her lungs when his had run out. If he had gone back to the surface while the python slithered over their water-filled hiding place then it would have attacked and killed him instantly.

"Why?" Emmett asked softly, unable to comprehend why they would even want to kill either him or Monica. Both of them had worked under contract to the Government, accepting grants for their research and signing forms that forbade them to speak out about it. Killing them because they knew too much was inconceivable because Emmett knew only a little more now than he had before Sharpe contacted him. He had no idea where the python had come from; only that Broddick had brought it into the country illegally.

The man deflated physically, lowering the gun. "Because of a simple error of judgment. In truth, I'm more than happy to find you alive, Dr. Emmett, and only wish I had been informed earlier, in time to save both you and Dr. Barnes from your separate ordeals." The man put the gun away. "The agent responsible for your ordeal will be dealt with severely, and I can only offer my apologies."

"And you think that's good enough?"

"No. No, I don't. But it's all you're going to get."

Emmett snorted. "You expect me to believe..?" He bit his lip in anger and grief. "Then why didn't you stop the truck earlier? Get me out of there."

"By the time I knew what had happened to you, your boa was awake, and I couldn't risk another incident by opening the cage in darkness."

"In darkness?"

Before the man could answer, Emmett was pulled out of the truck and he dropped to the dusty ground. The oppressive heat struck him instantly after hours in the temperature-controlled interior of the cage, the sweat beading on his skin as he looked around in confusion, taking in the desert scenery. He thought he had slept only an hour or two at most but this area was over a thousand miles away from Philadelphia. Betty must have been awake for hours, coiled up alongside him as he slept away his exhaustion, and seeing him as no threat to her or her precious eggs.

Another man rushed out from the building close by, breath panting in the heat and eyes gleaming excitedly. "This is wonderful news. Simply wonderful. I was so shocked when the military misunderstood their orders to secure your services, and mourned the pointless death of such a renowned herpetologist as yourself, Dr. Emmett. Such a delight to find you still alive. We have need of your expertise, especially now we have procured your amazing scarlet boa."

Emmett looked at him in confusion, not resisting the hand that reached over and clasped his own tightly, quickly drawing him into the air-conditioned building.

"Welcome to Area 51, Doctor Emmett. Welcome to your new home."

As he was drawn deeper into the interior of the top secret establishment, Emmett knew he had just exchanged one cage for another. He felt another stab of grief for a woman he had barely known, a woman who could have become far more to him if they had been given a chance. Then he pushed the memory aside. The scenery might have changed but he still had his work, and he still had Betty.

THE END


End file.
